When Anastasia Pollack's husband Karl permanently cashes in his chips at a roulette table in Vegas, her comfy middle-class life is kaput, in this debut mystery in a series written by an award-winning craft designer. Anastasia is left with two teenage sons, a mountain of debt, and her hateful, cane-wielding, Communist mother-in-law—not to mention her late husband's secret gambling addiction and a loan shark demanding 50 thousand dollars. Even Anastasia's job as crafts editor for American Woman offers no respite after she discovers the body of fashion editor Marlys Vandenburg glued to her office chair. And when it comes to light that Marlys and Karl were having an affair, Anastasia becomes suspect number one.

"[Lois] Winston has hit a home run with this hilarious, laugh-until-your-sides-hurt tale. Oddball characters, uproariously funny situations, and a heroine with a strong sense of irony will delight fans of Janet Evanovich, Jess Lourey, and Kathleen Bacus. May this be the first of many in Winston's Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series."—Booklist (starred review)